Stock Parish Council held its July monthly meeting at Stock Cricket Club on Tuesday 9 July.
The meeting began with a minute’s silence in memory of villager and long-serving former Parish Councillor John Millernas, who passed away at the end of June, following a long illness.
John was an integral part of the Parish Council for 17 years. He was a keen rambler and looked after the footpaths in and around the village until he retired from the Parish Council due to ill health. A very kind and thoughtful man, John will be sorely missed by his wife Joy and their children and by all of us who knew him.
Following the Parish Council’s new public participation policy, villagers then raised a number of issues, including maintenance of verges and hedging in The Lindens and parking in streets in and around Stock Primary School.
Councillor John Pye gave a detailed update regarding ongoing parking issues. Councillor Pye submitted a formal application to South Essex Parking Partnership (SEPP) on 15 May with details regarding the potential for introducing Double Yellow Lines at relevant and suitable sites in the village, and the enforcement of those parking restrictions.
The Parish Council received a response from SEPP on 3 July confirming initial assessments of the application had been completed. A meeting will now take place between Essex County Council and SEPP technicians and their findings should be delivered to Stock Parish Council at the end of July.
The Parish Council has also submitted nine LHP applications since November 2023 regarding speeding and road safety issues in Stock. The results of speed surveys carried out did not justify the implementation of further road safety measures, as the average speeds of all vehicles during the counts carried out were not sufficiently high.
Following further discussions with SEPP, the Parish Council has vowed to pursue road safety measures, including average speed cameras at each end of the High Street. Discussions are ongoing over how these could be funded.
An exception is the Zebra crossing outside Budgen’s, where the survey results found replacement with a Pelican crossing is justified. A Local Highways Partnership (LHP) Scheme request has been made to make this replacement.
The Parish Council is also hopeful that Smallgains Lane and Well Lane will be designated as Quiet Lanes.
The bus shelter next to the War Memorial has been cleaned by a local business and the Women’s Institute have planted flowers in the bed next to it. The bus shelter next to The Ship has been removed and replaced by another local business, after the old structure was found to be decaying and could not be repaired. The Parish Council is also undertaking a series of works to clean and repair benches in the village.
The Parish Council continues to work with the Essex County Council Floods Assets department to identify and resolve flooding issues around the village.
The Parish Council welcomes villagers’ ideas for projects and events which would enhance the village, please email clerk@stock-pc.gov.uk.
The Parish Council will hold its next monthly meeting on Tuesday 10 September at 7.30pm at Stock Cricket Club.
